Father of 3 girls arrested for allegedly raping mentally-challenged in Kalwa

A 36-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old mentally-challenged girl in Kalwa; on the pretext of giving her chocolates and snacks, he took her to a remote place and allegedly raped her

A 16-year-old mentally-challenged girl was allegedly raped by a 36-year-old man who stays in the slums near her home. On the pretext of giving her chocolates and snacks, he took her to a remote place and allegedly raped her.

A father of three girls arrested for allegedly raping mentally-challenged in Kalwa. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The Kalwa police, who received this information from an NGO, immediately registered a case and arrested the accused merely on the knowledge of basic facial features that the girl recollected.

The accused, identified as Shrikant Gayake of Shanti Nagar slum area of Kalwa and a father of three girls, started visiting the survivor’s neighbourhood for the last one month to take advantage of her.

Three days ago, a government NGO helpline, 1098, monitored by Shraddha Narkar, received a call from a person who informed about a girl being raped in Kalwa, and to verify the information. Narkar immediately approached Kalwa police, who went to the area as informed by the caller and found the mentally-challenged girl, who was allegedly raped.

A police team brought her to the police station on March 26 and immediately filed a case against the unknown accused.

An officer from Kalwa police station said, “The girl narrated that two-three days ago, a bearded accused on the pretext of giving her chocolates took her to the deserted area of Mafatlal Compound and allegedly raped her. He then threatened her to keep quiet about the incident.”

The accused, who works as a labourer, thought that the girl would not be able to tell anyone about the incident but shared the pain with family while a well-wisher informed the NGO helpline.

Kalwa police station senior police inspector, M Awhad, said, “The girl said that he was a bearded man. Accordingly, our team started searching in seven areas to check if anyone had seen him. Through information from sources we reached him and after he was brought to the police station, the girl immediately recognised him. We arrested him immediately under IPC and POCSO sections.”